Friday
February 2,2001
Volume 100
Issue 96
dailyneb.com
Since 1901
‘Extraordinarisf dazzles crowd
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In News/7
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Amanda Cleveland^ story
trody is one about life and
death
In SportsWeekend/10
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Crearifsfcigere consid
themselves a family
In Arts/5
Reinhard's firing deemed unjust
. BY KIMBERLY SWEET
A university-hired attorney
has found there isn’t reasonable
cause to act on a recommenda
tion made by a faculty committee
to fire UNL School of Natural
Resources Professor Karl
Reinhard.
David R. Buntain, an attorney
hired to look into the recommen
dation forwarded to him by for
mer Chancellor James Moeser
and NU President Dennis Smith
stated that “adequate cause does
not exist to terminate Dr.
Reinhard’s continuous appoint
ment”
The decision comes after a
special committee of the
Academic Rights and
Responsibilities Committee voted
“(Reinhard’s term
ination) would bring a
bad reflection on the
university as well.”
James Riding In
case co-complainant
4-1 with one member abstaining
to recommend firing Reinhard last
March.
James Riding In, an associate
professor at Arizona State
University who was a co-com
plainant in the case, said he stood
behind the special committee’s
recommendation.
"I think the special committee
that heard the complaint did a
very good job at weighing the evi
dence and coming to a decision,”
Riding In said.
He said the university had
something to gain by dismissing
the committee’s recommenda
tion.
“They have a vested interest in
clearing the university,” he said.
"(Reinhard’s termination) would
bring a bad reflection oh the uni
versity as well.”
Reinhard, who is leaving for
Brazil later this month on a
Fulbright Scholarship, said
Buntain’s analysis of the recom
mendation showed the ARRC’s
process of dealing with com
plaints was flawed.
“What I think this does is
expose ARRC’s lack of regard for
human beings,” Reinhard said. “I
think it shows ARRC’s current for
mat serves no function and that it
should be redesigned with
humanity in mind.”
Reinhard didn’t participate in
the hearings, and did not partici
pate in his defense, the ARRC
report stated. It also stated he
chose not to supply documents
until after the deadline for hand
ing them in had passed.
Reinhard said he didn’t partic
ipate because of prolonged health
problems and stress related to the
hearing. He said it was the com
mittee’s choice not to acknowl
edge the documents.
Buntain, the lawyer, said he
didn’t want to comment on the
procedure the special committee
used to come up with its recom
mendation to fire Reinhard, but
he said his report wasn’t a reflec
tion on the work of the ARRC com
mittee.
"I think they were looking at it
in a different way than I had to
look at it,” Buntain said.
The original complaint stated
Reinhard conducted outside
forensic work without the permis
sion of the university, that he
behaved unprofessionally toward
students and colleagues, that he
withheld American Indian
remains in violation of federal pol
icy and that he conducted invasive
testing on human remains with
out permission from Indian tribes.
The complaint was filed in
1998 by Riding In, along with
Pemina Yellow Bird, an American
Indian tribal representative, and
Susan Miller, a UNL assistant pro
fessor of history and ethnic stud
ies.
The ARRC special committee,
a unit of UNUs Academic Senate,
forwarded its recommendations
to Moeser in March 2000. In a con
fidential letter written last April
and obtained by the Daily
Nebraskan, Moeser wrote that he
was “unable to conclude that rea
sonable cause in fact exists to ter
minate Dr. Reinhard’s continuous
appointment”
In his analysis, Buntain looked
at the recommendation point by
point He said:
■Reinhaid did conduct foren
sic anthropology projects for law
enforcement agencies without
receiving permission from the
Please see REINHARD on 3
Diversity
top issue
for party
■ NU Force intends to indude
a variety of groups in student
government.
BY MARGARET BEHM
There’s a party, and everyone
is invited. ■
The NU Force party wants tc
add more people and diversity tc
student government
Angela Clements, presiden
tial candidate for the NU Force
party, said she wanted to make
ASUN as diverse as her party. She
is the only woman running foi
president, and her two vice
presidents are international stu
dents.
*T tKmU fKot rot to r/v
about ASUN* she said.
The NU Force party woulc
diversify student government bj
adding 10 new seats to it
The seats would go to 10 dif
ferent organizations on-cam
pus, such as Afrikan People':
Union and Gay Lesbian Bisexua
and Transgender Studeni
Alliance.
The additions to the senate
will ensure that the Associatior
of Students of the University o:
Nebraska is representing all stu
dents, Clements said.
“These people will encom
pass pretty much all 23,000 stu
dents,” she said.
The added seats will be <
plus for ASUN because every
one's views will be represented
Clements said.
“With a large senate, they!
be able to address more issues,’
she said. "With a diverse senate
they'll be able to address more
issues." r>V
RowenaY. Pacquette, seconc
vice presidential candidate, saic
having a diverse student govern
ment would improve communi
Please see NU FORCE on:
JoshWolfe/DN
. Angela dements, representing the NU Force party, announces her candidacy for ASUN president Thursday afternoon in the Nebraska Union.
Questions arise about candidate's late filing
BY MARGARET BEHM
Some dirty laundry was aired during
NU Force’s announcement party.
Nick Fitch, second vice president
candidate for Score!, asked about one of
NU Force's candidates not getting her
required signatures in on time to be eligi
ble for the March election.
Candidates running for second vice
president had to turn in 200 signatures
and fill out a filing form by 4 p.m. on
i Wednesday.
Rowena Pacquette, NU Force second
vice president candidate, said she filed
late for candidacy because she waited
[ until last week to decide to run.
Pacquette ended up turning in her
! signatures Thursday morning.
i She said she was confused about
what she had to do to file for candidacy.
[ “I’m not political, I don't know about
i these things,” Pacquette said.
She didn't get her signatures collect
ed until Tuesday evening. Classes and
work kept her from turning them in on
I Wednesday, she said.
Fitch questioned Pacquette’s signa
tures during a question-and- answer
period at NU Force’s party announce
ment
Angela Clements, NU Force presi
dential candidate, said she thought
Fitch’s public questioning about
Pacquette’s signatures was tactless.
“It very much seemed like an attack
from the other party," she said. "If they
truly cared about the problems with
Rowena getting her signatures in, they
could have asked us privately. It was like
acatfight” -
Fitch said he simply asked the ques
tion solely because he wanted to know
whether he’d be running against her.
“I would never ask a question with a
disrespectful intent,” he said.
Also, Fitch said, he had tried to
phone Clements on Wednesday evening
to ask her the status of her second vice
presidential candidate, but wasn't able to
reach Clements.
Fitch said he didn’t have an opinion
on whether Pacquette should be able to
run.
After he asked the question, Fitch
said he sensed the NU Force party wasn’t
pleased.
“It seemed to me like it was taken die
wrong way,” he said.
John D. Conley, ASUN Electoral
Commission director, said Pacquette
failed to file for candidacy by the
Wednesday 4 p.m. deadline.
Pacquette had to turn in the form in
person because she had to sign it in front
of a witness.
Conley said that he didn’t find out
about the late signatures until 4:15 p.m.,
when Clements came to talk to him
about it
Clements said Conley offered to rec
ommend Pacquette still be able to run.
Conley said in an interview with the
Daily Nebraskan that he didn’t know if he
was going to make the recommendation
to allow Pacquette to run..
The Electoral Commission will
decide whether Pacquette will be
allowed to run, at 8 a.m. Hiesday, he said.
Four students and two faculty mem
bers serve on the committee.
Legislature
Bills spark
fierce debate
■ Opposition to tax increases could jeopardize
the eight bills that would increase salaries for
Nebraska educators.
BY GEORGE GREEN
Picking up the tab took on a whole new mean
ing for state senators Thursday.
The Revenue Committee heard testimony on
eight bills aimed at increasing Nebraska’s teacher
salaries by boosting taxes.
At every step of the hearing process, the sena
tors listened to testimony from concerned citizens
and businesses bent on shifting the tax burden to
others.
Overshadowing all of the testimony was a
promise from Gov. Mike Johanns to veto any tax
increases.
Following the governor’s lead, the Lincoln
Chamber of Commerce, the Omaha Chamber of
Commerce and the Nebraska Chamber of
Commerce opposed every proposal the commit
tee considered.
ben. Bob Wickersham ot Hamson, chairman of
the committee, introduced each bill, and criti
cized the commerce groups for constantly object
ing to the ideas without providing suggestions of
their own.
“Do they have any recognition that we are
indeed faced with a critical issue in this state?” he
asked.
To combat the problem, the committee heard
a variety of proposals including boosting income
taxes, expanding the sales tax and upping taxes on
alcohol and cigarettes.
LB200 would slip food under the sales tax
umbrella.
Carey Potter, of the Nebraska Retail
Federation, warned that a tax on food would
unfairly burden the lower class.
"It's a regressive tax," she said.
She said the bill would force the average
Nebraska family to fork over an additional $272
each year in food expenses.
Many poor families simply can’t handle the
extra burden, she said.
But Wickersham noted that poor families
would be eligible for a yearly rebate where they
Please see EDUCATION on 7
A bugs life: Student researches hopping critters through UCARE program
Sharon Kolbet/DN
With a net and cage at his side, UNL senior Brian Dietz becomes immersed in hb research. Dietz has been studying grasshopper
populations under the direction of UNL Biology professor Anthony Joera.
la
BY SHARON KOLBET
Armed with a butterfly net
and an insect cage he collected
them - hundreds of them.
While lying on his stomach
in the middle of an isolated
prairie, he watched them,
counted them and now he is
writing about them.
After spending months
gathering information,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
senior Brian Dietz is putting the
final touches on his redlegged
grasshopper project.
As a second year participant
in the Undergraduate Creative
Activities and Research
Experiences program (UCARE),
Dietz received a $2,000 grant for
his project.
Dietz then received permis
sion from the Nebraska
t.
AuauDon society to siuay at me
Spring Creek Prairie near
Denton, Nebraska.
“Lab experiments have their
place, but I now understand
why field experiments are so
important.” Dietz said.
Biology professor Anthony
Joern was Dietz’s faculty spon
sor for the two-year grasshop
per project.
Joern said during Dietz's first
year in the program, he spent a
Please see RESEARCH on 3
Senate narrowly
votes Ashcroft to
attorney general
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Former
Sen. John Ashcroft won confirm^
tion as attorney general oji
Thursday, completing President
Bush’s Cabinet and overcoming a
ferocious Democratic assault on
his conservative views and per
sonal integrity. The vote was 58
42.
"The president of the United
States, George W. Bush, is entitled
to have his selection as attorney
general," Majority Leader Trent
Lott said a few moments before
the roll was called on the most
contentious confirmation fight in
a decade.
Please see ASHCROFT on 2
